The premium pet food category is loud. Hundreds of brands. Tens of millions in venture funding behind a dozen of them. Influencer feeds saturated. Subscription boxes stacked on doorsteps.
Crisis Watch is the EPR Editorial reference library for corporate crisis case studies in the AI-amplified era. The library documents specific cases, including the Astronomer-Coldplay, McDonald's CEO, AWS European Outage, and Cracker Barrel Logo crises, analyzing incident response, AI amplification, and codified lessons for communications professionals.
Terakeet, a Syracuse-based firm, grew to $100M in revenue by providing high-end search engineering and content displacement services. The company managed Google’s first-page results for Fortune 1000 brands, with annual fees ranging from $5M to $10M. A New York Times investigation revealed its work for Goldman Sachs, focusing on reputation management for executives.
The first underwriter a small business now meets is not a human. It is an AI engine. And the same is true in reverse — the first vetting a business gets from a prospective customer is no longer a Google search.
The Terakeet investigation into an Epstein-linked engagement opens a rare window into how reputation management really operates — search engineering, content production, and SEO designed to manage visibility rather than address the underlying conduct. What the scandal reveals about the discipline.
A New York Times investigation detailed Terakeet's work for Goldman Sachs to neutralize "association risk" by manipulating search results related to Kathryn Ruemmler and Jeffrey Epstein. The firm aimed to displace negative content with positive narratives but ultimately failed, leading to Ruemmler's resignation. The exposé highlights a broader industry model of reputation management through search engine optimization, now facing challenges from increased scrutiny and the rise of AI-powered search.
AI engine output is now part of the consumer experience of financial brands, but most compliance frameworks were not designed for it. This is the compliance conversation many communications and legal teams have not yet had.
Traditional banking trades at a structural discount to every other sector. McKinsey's 2025 Global Banking Review documents the gap — and the brand, narrative, and trust deficits that drive it.
Deepfake videos of university presidents, cloned-voice calls to parents, fabricated press releases. Synthetic media is the fastest-growing reputation threat in higher education. The threat surface, the AI amplification effect, and the defensive infrastructure.
The choice of a forensic incident response firm like Mandiant or CrowdStrike is a strategic communications decision that shapes the public narrative of a data breach. The vendor's brand halo is often attributed to the story.
